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When prosthodontist Dr Porus Turner first wanted to start his dental clinic from his Rustom Baug residence, he did not have enough money to buy even foot operated dental equipment. His father, a pensioner who was blind in one eye, advised him to "give up” his studies. But the son heard about the Zoroastrian Dentists Organization (ZDO) and approached one of the founders, Capt (Dr) Nariman Vajifdar. Vajifdar kindly told him he had an old foot operated machine which he could have for free. "He didn’t even want it back,” recalled Turner while addressing ZDO members at the Organization’s 65-year anniversary event on March 24, 2019 at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. For years the ZDO has striven to assist starting and experienced dentists.
Turner who chaired and convened the scientific convention at the one-day meet, noted with pride that many of the 30 or so attendees were young Parsi dentists who had entered the profession thanks to the assistance rendered to them by the ZDO.
Dental camps are organized by the ZDO and Turner recalls one such held in Navsari a year-and-a-half back with the assistance of Bachi and Dinshaw Tamboly of the WZO Trust Funds. "Ten of us went in a minibus,” he recalled. Many local Parsi residents benefitted from the free dental checkups.

 

 

 

 

 

He and other dentists provide free implants to mobeds. Solicitor Burjor Antia financially assisted patients who required dental implants and/or crowns, Turner noted. Prosthodontist Dr Firoze Mirza also urged the assembly to "take an interest in our community.” He despaired as to "what is happening... It’s very sad.”
Dinshaw Tamboly, the chief guest at the function spoke of the community’s "demographic decline.” He pointed out that in the community, according to a Tata Institute of Social Sciences study, on an average for one single earning member there are three dependent elders in the family. He also referred to the "dwindling number of youth willing to take up priesthood as a profession” and observed that while the Dadar Athornan Institute has around 22 to 24 students, the M. F. Cama Athornan Institute at Andheri "does not have a single young athornan boy on its campus.” Dinshaw spoke of remedial measures such as the Jiyo Parsi campaign and Empowering Mobeds program. He hoped this background would assist the dentists to "get to the root” of the problem! Another invitee, former Bombay Parsi Punchayet  (BPP) chairman Dinshaw Mehta, stated he was "proud of what the dentists are doing for the mobeds.”
Dr Karen Mulla, who took over as ZDO president from Dr Aspi Surveyor, pledged "to offer free dental service to our mobeds who cannot afford high medical costs” as it is one of the reasons for fewer youth taking to the priesthood.
Addressing the gathering at the March meet she noted, "The competitive nature of today’s global market and the rapid economic advance of our nation places increasing and ever evolving demands on us...Our motto should be to network, be committed to continued education and learning... such that we mentor and train others...No single person can be a success in today’s technology driven world without a dynamic and enthusiastic team.” She intends to collaborate with other dental associations, she told Parsiana over the phone on April 26. A ZDO president can serve a maximum of two two-year terms.
Mulla, whose clinic is in Byculla close to the Mevawalla agiary, said she "always had an inclination,” towards the medical field. She opted for dentistry as there were "no emergency hours,” so the family did not suffer on account of her absence at odd hours.
For years the ZDO has assisted both dentists and patients. Turner, along with former BPP chairman Minoo Shroff and Dinshaw Tamboly approached his academic contacts in Mangalore to give Parsi students preference in admission to the dental college. Two seats were offered, but Turner laments that in some years there are no takers despite dentistry being "a wonderful profession.”
Among the March gathering was Dr Framroze Antia who during his student days was roped into the newly formed, informal organization by the three founders: Drs Fali (Freddy) Mehta, a three-time president/honorary secretary general of the Dental Association of India (DAI) and an uncle of conductor Zubin Mehta, Vajifdar, also a former president of the DAI and Minoo Ginwalla, later dean of the Nair Dental College. Orthodontist KekiMistry who joined ZDO around 50 years ago referred to the founders as "very fine people.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antia passed his dentistry licentiate in the early 1950s. The Nair Hospital Dental College then operated from a garage owned by the Hospital’s founder, Dr A. L. Nair, with a single dental chair, Antia told Parsiana.  There were three dental colleges in India at the time, of which two were in Bombay and one in Calcutta. "The others had degrees, we had a licentiate,” he recalls. Antia topped the class in his final year.  It was common then to go to the United Kingdom where, on completing a three month course one could appear for a degree from the Royal College of Surgeons, he explained.
But the octogenarian claimed the examiner in London was biased against Indians and inquired, "Why did you come here? Don’t you have colleges in India?” He failed Antia. The young aspirant was despondent and when his father alleged he did not study hard enough, he was all the more dejected. But a friend advised him to appear from Edinburgh, where his nationality would not be a factor. Antia passed from there and went on to pass the degree from Ireland as well, making him a rare double Licentiate in Dental Surgery. In 2014 he was awarded the Fellowship in Dental Surgery by the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (see "Honor for Antia,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, April 21, 2014).
Antia recalled that the initial informal meetings of ZDO were held at the residence of dentist Mehta.
Turner started his career working as a dental surgeon at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and unofficially ran a private practice in the evenings from his Rustom Baug flat. In 1989 at the age of 49 he told the BARC management he would be leaving the job as he wanted to take up private practice. His boss told him they were aware he already had a practice and they were not raising any objection.  "They were very nice people, scientists. Not like most other bureaucrats.” Turner thanked him but explained he was "unable to do both” as he wanted to practice full time.

 

 

 

 

In 1987 Dr Ratan Doctor, along with Drs Mehta, Cyrus Daruwala, Sam Sahukar, Keki Mistry, Turner, and Dinshaw Sorabjee founded the ZDO Charitable Trust with the objective of promoting "the study of dentistry and dental care and hygiene, (to) contribute grants, loans to any educational institution or dental college to promote the study of dentistry...or to reserve seats in dental colleges for bright and deserving students, to conduct dental camps in different parts of the country in urban and rural areas, to award scholarships,” and so on. The first international Zoroastrian Dental Conference provided the impetus to form the Trust; the corpus came from the surplus left over from hosting the Conference in Bombay.
"We collected a lot of funds,” says retired orthodontist Dr Soli Javeri, the present honorary treasurer and trustee. The other trustees are Turner and Dr Burzin Khan.  Doctor was the "moving spirit” behind the Trust and had "a large range of acquaintances,” recalled Javeri. The Trust held seminars and arranged get-togethers so dentists could meet others in the profession.  A few global Zoroastrian conferences were also held to coincide with the world dental meets in Bombay. But as coordination becomes cumbersome they try to hold all-India conferences every three years, explained Turner. The last one, however, was held in Lonavla around six years ago.
The objective of the Bombay annual meet is to acquaint dentists with the latest developments in the field. The ZDO could manage to host the function at the prestigious Taj Hotel with financial  assistance from companies such as Colgate-Palmolive, "the pioneers and inventors of most documented oral hygienic products,” as describes the Annual Scientific Convention souvenir.
"We have to continuously educate ourselves if we want to remain in the top” of the profession, Turner emphasized, adding, "patients hold Parsi dentists in high regard.”